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More than 60 medical residents and fellows gathered outside Cambridge Hospital Wednesday to rally for mental health benefits and an increase in resident salary, which they said was the lowest in the Boston area.
The rally comes as the residents’ union — the Committee of Interns and Residents, a national affiliate of the Service Employees International Union — negotiates with the Cambridge Health Alliance-operated hospital for a new contract after the last contract expired on June 30.
The hospital is currently offering the union a split raise in the first year of the contract: 13 percent for residents in their first four years after graduation and 9 percent for residents in their fifth through seventh years. The raise schedule also includes a 3 percent raise in the second year and a 2 percent raise in the third year.
But José R. Dominguez, a member of the union’s contract bargaining committee, said the group is pushing for a more favorable contract, citing mental health and affordability issues facing members.
“We are fighting for a contract that ensures that we are fairly compensated, so we can afford to live in the community we serve,” Dominguez said. “We are fighting for a contract that guarantees affordable, accessible mental healthcare while we’re caring for patients.”
Union organizers and residents were joined by Cambridge Vice Mayor Marc C. McGovern, City Councilor Jivan Sobrinho-Wheeler, Massachusetts State Rep. Erika Uyterhoeven, and State Rep. candidate Evan C. Mackay ’19, a former Harvard labor leader. In a brief address to attendees, McGovern — who said his four children receive healthcare at Cambridge Hospital — expressed his support for the union.
“Cambridge City Council is behind you, we’re with you, and we will continue to show up as long as you need us,” McGovern said at the rally.
Bargaining committee member Karla Chamorro Garcia, a first year resident in internal medicine, called on the CHA to offer more generous salary increases, which she said were necessary to support living in the notoriously-unaffordable Cambridge.
“We need more money so that we can live around the area,” Chamorro Garcia said. “Living in Cambridge is extremely expensive, more than I could have imagined.”
Several speakers at the rally called on CHA CEO Assaad Sayah and CFO Jill Batty to address their concerns and “put people over profits.”
CHA spokesperson David Cecere wrote in a statement that the hospital strives “to be an employer of choice, prioritizing fair wages and benefits for our employees. We routinely conduct market studies and are committed to providing competitive salaries for our employees across all job roles.”
“We are making every effort to come to an agreement with CIR and have included many benefits in our proposals,” Cecere wrote.
“We are confident that our positions are fair, support outstanding patient care, and reflect respect for the tremendous contributions our resident physicians and interns provide to patient care,” he added.
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But residents said Wednesday that the hospital’s current wages are significantly below both those offered at peer hospitals and the minimum required to live effectively in Cambridge.
Last year, under the existing contract, residents and fellows in their first year after graduation made $68,810.57 — more than $6,000 below MIT’s Living Wage Calculator estimate for one adult with no children. With one child, the pay is almost $50,000 below a living wage, according to the calculator.
The union’s second major demand, improved mental health benefits, became particularly central after the hospital informed residents their access to online therapists would be limited to 10 visits per year in their next contract, according to bargaining committee member David Karjala.
At the rally, Family Medicine PGY 2 Jean Chang said the new program was “beyond insufficient” to help CHA doctors process “serious workplace and financial stress.”
“This is an investment in the quality and sustainability of our hospital care,” she said.
Karjala, who has two children, said in an interview he often works 80 hours a week and routinely struggles to pay for groceries and bills.
“I don’t even need to save or invest, but I literally can't pay for my apartment and my food,” he said. “Even though my spouse works and we have this combined income, the rent here is such that we’re not even living paycheck to paycheck.”
“It’s like this incredible strategizing to make sure we can pay for things, and it’s too much stress to then go work 80 hours a week,” he added.
—Staff writer Cam E. Kettles can be reached at cam.kettles@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @cam_kettles or on Threads @camkettles.
—Staff writer Azusa M. Lippit can be reached at azusa.lippit@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @azusalippit or on Threads @azusalippit.
